Of Crybots and Na'avi
by HoldingOnToMyHeart
Summary: PRSPDxAvatar. What would happen if Grummn escaped from confinement and went after pandora? What if Dr Augustine and Dr Manx were once lab partners? I don't know how this is going to turn out, please R&R so I know whether its worth carrying on or not!
1. Chapter 1  Dr Manx

**I don't own any of the PRSPD characters (Except Zelda, Soara and Mitchell because I invented them in another of my stories) or the Avatar characters or anything associated with it. Please R&R, I want to know if it's worth continuing or not? Flames accepted if it's really that bad. **

It was midnight in the SPD Earth station. Everything was quiet, and everyone was asleep.

All except for one woman. Her heels clacked noisily against the floors as she hurried to her lab, her green eyes glowing determinedly. She knew what she had to do and her brown curled hair bounced just above her shoulders as sat down heavily on the chair. The computer whirred and beeped as she typed in complex commands.

Suddenly, there was a massive flash of bright light. The woman covered her eyes. Within seconds, five rangers were teleported into the lab.

Everything seemed to slow down. The woman relaxed. She'd done it. She'd done it.

For a few moments, the teens looked confused. Then they saw the woman and their faces lit up.

"Kat!" They all exclaimed at once, running to hug her.

"Rangers! It's good to see you," there was warmth in Kat's voice.

"I see your lab is still intact," one with scruffy brown hair, wearing green uniform commented.

"Yes, Bridge. I plan to spend the rest of my life here." Kat smiled.

The two girls, one wearing pink and one wearing yellow, were looking at two photo's on Kat's desk, "Is that Zelda and Soara?" The one in pink asked, tossing her golden curls over her shoulder. Her name was Syd.

"They've grown so much!" The other girl exclaimed.

"I know Z. Zelda works with me in the lab now, and Soara has joined our native tribe. They are both mothers." The technician was glowing with pride.

"Native tribe?" Bridge questioned.

"Long story," Kat explained.

"Wait... what year is it?" The red ranger looked at Kat and spoke for the first time.

"It's 2142." Kat replied to Jack's question.

"Is Cruger still in charge of this place?" The tall blue ranger was looking sceptical about this whole thing.

"No," Kat sounded sorrowful, but her eyes automatically became glazed. She was hiding much more personal information. "He died. Mitchell is in charge of this base now."

For a moment there was silence.

"Well what are we all doing here?" Jack asked.

"There's a situation." Kat swung round on her heels and went to a computer, where she bought up a map and displayed a planet. "Gruummn escaped from confinement some years ago. He just vanished, and we assumed he had learnt his lesson and wouldn't be causing any more trouble. We let him go... but now he seems to be starting his conquest again, except in the far more distant galaxies. His first target is a planet named Pandora."

"That son of a..."

"Z!" Sky interrupted sharply.

"We need to stop him, or at the very least warn the inhabitants what's about to happen. Not many people get to go out there, the natives and the scientists operating out there are a highly secretive bunch. However I have gained permission to go out there." Kat grabbed a rucksack. "I have packed sufficient amount of clothing, food and water for a flight out there. We leave now."

With that, she rushed out of the lab, leaving the five rangers looking at each other, bewildered.

-XXXXX-

"So, how did you gain permission to fly to this planet?" Syd asked, breaking the silence, which had hung over the spaceship for far too long now.

"I have a friend who is head of botany out there." Kat replied. "We were quite close…" she shrugged vaguely "…a long time ago."

"Who is it?" Sky questioned.

"Dr Grace Augustine." Kat said tensely.

"I've never heard of her!" Syd muttered to Z.

"She invented the Avatar Theory." Kat stated, as if to explain.

"What's that?" Z turned to Syd in confusion. Syd shrugged.

"Grace and several others worked on it back on Earth. It is a deep and complex theory." Kat shook her head, and a smile threatened to play on her lips.

"Tell us about it." Bridge suggested.

"At the time the theory was invented, Pandora – that's where we are going – was a newly discovered planet. Many scientists, including Grace and her team would have done anything to investigate it. But they could tell from its location that it was one of the most hostile environments known of. The plants and species that live there breathe in Boron Triflouride which can kill a human very quickly. The equipment necessary to keep their teams alive was too expensive to buy or even create, and it was also a very long distance to transport it over." Kat was explaining carefully.

"So how come there are people out there now? Where did they find the money?" Jack queried.

"Scans of the planet revealed that beneath the crust of Pandora, there lies a rich supply of unobtanium."

"What's unobtanium?" Bridge asked.

"It's a very valuable rock." Kat said bluntly.

"Ooh, how valuable are we talking?" Syd leaned forwards, interested now.

"About twenty million dollars a kilogram. The RDA – the resources development association – borrowed millions from the banks worldwide so that they could go and harvest the rock."

"I'm guessing they only risked borrowing so much because they thought that when they harvested the Unobtanium they'd be able to pay it all back and still have loads to spare." Sky commented, turning a page in his book.

"Correct." Kat responded. Under her breath she added, "They killed our economy."

"But they are unable to?" Jack guessed, obviously not hearing Kat's comment.

"There was a slight glitch." Kat sounded reluctant to admit it. "The indigenous species – the Na'avi – did not approve of their home planet being torn up for rock. So they began to shoot the RDA workers."

"That's nice." Bridge mused. "If it were my planet I'd throw them a welcoming party…"

"Bridge." Z interrupted, sharply.

"Unfortunately the RDA men are all brawn and no brain. So they retaliated, and used machine guns on the Na'avi and created an irreversible feud between the scientists and the Na'avi. They regretted it though, the moment they realised that the home of the Na'avi – their camp, their base – was resting on the largest deposit of unobtanium on the planet." Kat tutted under her breath. The thought that anyone could be so stupid still irritated her beyond imagine. "They needed a dimplomatic, peaceful solution. That's where Dr Augustine comes in."

Kat pulled sharply on her controls to avoid crashing into a meteorite.

"Dr Augustine was a young scientist at the time. She and her team were looking to test the Avatar Theory. She was also rather keen to explore Pandora. The RDA knew of this. So they offered to fund Grace and many other scientists to come to Pandora and test the theory on the Na'avi. Then the scientists – whom the Na'avi did not know already – could enter the avatars and talk to them, coming up with a diplomatic solution. The RDA believe that if the people who are doing the reasoning look and talk like Na'avis then the real Na'avi would trust them, and they wouldn't shoot their own kind. Grace agreed, so long as they could use their own avatar bodies to safely investigate Pandora and write up all the scientific know-how about it."

"And did it work?" Z answered.

"It has neither been proved nor disproved. The last thing I heard, avatars were being grown by the dozens and developing just as the theory said they would." Kat turned to look at Z. "But the machines which transfer a driver's conscious being to the avatars, the software required, is not going online. That's why I'm going with you guys. Because I'm legally responsible for the five of you, I have to be there. But on top of that I wanted to help Dr Augustine sequence the link machines." Under her breath she added, "Maths was never her strongest area."

"But if you guys are friends surely she would accept your help anyway?" Jack leaned forwards slightly.

Kat sighed, "You don't know Grace. She's stubborn. She's proud. And the truth is… she may not be entirely pleased to see me."


	2. Chapter 2 Dr Augustine

"Dr Augustine," Grace didn't even turn around when she heard her name being spoken. Instead she raised one hand and continued with her work.

"Look, not now, okay? I have a million and one things to do, the new discs aren't here and I've got all these papers to fill in- what do they think I am, superwoman? Or do they expect me to…"

"Grace, it's Dr Manx." Kat interrupted her ex-colleagues words quickly.

Silence.

Grace turned around, tossing her curls back over her shoulder. The look she gave Kat was one of utter contempt and annoyance. "And what the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"I sent you a memo." Dr Manx replied, obviously reluctant to be put down.

"I know you did." Grace drew on her cigarette and shrugged. "So what?"

"So the lack of response indicated to me that you were okay with my visit," now Kat was starting to sound a little irritated.

Dr Augustine shook her head with a chuckle, and then repeated her previous question, "What do you want Manx? Huh?"

"I heard on the grapevine that you were having a hard time with the sequencing of the link machines. Thought I'd come and lend a hand." Kat looked around. "I've been away from the Avatar programme for far too long. I want to get inside my Na'avi body."

"You have an avatar?" The words were out of Z's mouth before she could stop them, and for the first time, Dr Augustine looked at the rangers, sharply, the irritation on her face became more obvious.

"So it would seem." Bridge commented, before Grace could say anything. He had snuck away from the group and was peering into a large tank full of blue plasm – in which floated a large blue body. The body of an avatar Na'avi. "She looks just like you, Kat." He reached out to touch the tank, but a hand slapped his own away.

"She's also insanely expensive." Dr Augustine scolded, standing over him.

"The avatars are extremely sensitive." Kat explained to the confused Bridge. "If you tap the glass, or startle them in any other way, it will mess with their brain development. Then they'll be undriveable." To Grace she said, "She looks about ready for her first link."

"She is. So is mine," Grace begun without thinking. "But the link machines are…" she sighed and rolled her eyes, realising her mistake. "Okay, fine. Fine, you win. You stay and help out with the sequencing and in return you get to drive your bloody avatar." She flounced away, and tossed the words over her shoulder: "But I'm not paying you Dr Manx, don't expect that." Suddenly she paused, and turned to face the rangers. "And you'd better explain to me who your friends are."

"Ah… well…"

_**X-X-X-X-X**_

"Go for Zelda." The blonde teenager answered her communicator the second it sirened her.

"Hey, Zelda, it's Z."

"Z?" Kat's daughters voice became full of excitement. "What are you doing this far into the future?"

"Long story, not enough time." Z's answer was curt. "Zelda, we were hoping you might fill us in on something?"

"I can certainly try."

"What does Dr Augustine have against your mother?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Zelda answered. "To be honest I'm not entirely sure. Kat doesn't talk about it. Dr Augustine was her lab partner for a long time – they created the Avatar Theory and…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack interrupted Zelda. "Kat said that Dr Augustine and 'a few others' came up with that. She never mentioned that she was in on it too."

"It was solely her and Grace. Grace's theory, Kats technology." Zelda responded. "Now, at the time, the RDA were out on Pandora, trying to obtain the unobtanium." She paused, allowing Sky to snigger briefly. "But the Na'avi kept shooting them, and many men died. Since the unobtanium sells for so much, the RDA agreed to fund Grace, Kat and several scientists, to come out to Pandora. They figured that the Na'avi wouldn't shoot humans, if they looked the same species as them so, the deal was that if Kat and Grace would be able to test their theory, they had to test it on the Na'avi. Then the RDA people could go out and the risk of them being shot would be reduced – supposedly. Some deal was made that scientists could have bodies too, so that they could investigate Pandora – an opportunity no scientist had ever had before. The military, who'd been employed by the RDA to protect them, would also protect the scientists."

"Kat's told us all this! What we want to know, is why they fell out." Jack pressed.

"Give me a moment, it's a complex story!" Zelda growled. "They were working on building the avatars. Grace and Kat's were the first ones ever to be made, and they'll be the first ever to be tested. When their avatars were about 4 years old, things seemed to be going well. So they decided to risk creating some for one or two other scientists. It cost an awful lot to get hold of the correct DNA from the Na'avi and the human. They cost a lot to be developed. So when Kat made a major mess up with a new formed embryo, and it died, they sued her for the money they'd lost. Kat refused to pay it, so Grace kicked her off the programme."

The rangers fell into a confused silence, but before they could think too much, Jack's communicator sounded.

"Jack! Jack!" It was Kat. "Jack, meet in the control centre for a debrief."


End file.
